For years my biggest gripe with Newcastle United was that they had given up trying to win anything.

When the club announced publicly that the League Cup and FA Cup were secondary to staying in the Premier League, I had my head in my hands.

Don’t get me wrong, the Premier League is the place to be. For a club’s bank balance, its profile and to attract and keep the best players it’s absolutely crucial that you’re in that division. So on the face of it, Newcastle’s argument that they were just being honest might have some merit.

The problem always was that when the board come out and say the League is the most important thing, that message filters down to the manager and – most importantly – the players.

Look at Fabricio Coloccini, for example. For years Newcastle had a captain who was not available for the third round of the FA Cup. Was that a coincidence? You can make your own mind up, but the attitude of the players and managers before Rafa Benitez to the Cups was not good enough.

That is why Tuesday is so important. Now Rafa knows that promotion is the priority this season. The club has to be back in the Premier League if he’s going to fulfil his ambitions for Newcastle.

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But you can see that he is absolutely deadly serious about the EFL Cup. His attitude is like night and day when you compare it to Alan Pardew – and the same is true of his squad.

The current skipper Jamaal Lascelles will be absolutely desperate to play – and that was true of the last round and the one before that. Contrast that with Coloccini. The same will be true of Matt Ritchie, Dwight Gayle, Aleksandar Mitrovic, Mo Diame, Yoan Gouffran – no-one will want to sit this one out.

I’m not sure that you could always say that about Newcastle. The squad that Rafa inherited had too many players who seemed to turn it on when the opponents were one of the big four and the TV cameras were on. This lot are cut from a different cloth and that comes from the top.

I think you probably had a situation where Pardew did what he did to survive. The only way his job would have been under threat was relegation – humiliation in the Cups didn’t ever matter to the board.

For Benitez, it’s about trophies and winning things. That’s where his ambitions lie, and he’s dragging Newcastle along with him.

Can Newcastle win the whole thing? It’s a huge ask but why not? Of all of the clubs left in the competition, they’re probably the only ones who can afford to prioritise this game as the most important of the week.

Liverpool will make changes, Arsenal will and Southampton – with the Europa League commitments they’ve got – probably will too. West Ham have to get themselves out of relegation trouble and so too do Hull. So we could see some funny results this week: there’s no guarantee Liverpool and Arsenal will definitely get through.

And on their day Newcastle could live with most of those teams. They can certainly beat Hull, who are at least on an even keel with them.

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I don’t know whether I’d agree that Newcastle are favourites but there’s nothing to choose between the two sides. You always need a bit of luck in the cups but if Rafa gets his selection right and the players perform to their top level I think they’ll win the game.

Saturday was an aberration really. Newcastle weren’t ‘at it’ but that is not what we’ve come to expect from Rafa’s United and I wouldn’t expect too many more of them. Even the best teams have off days.

What I would like to see is Dwight Gayle starting because he’s the man who can really give Hull some problems. I like Michael Dawson and he’s been a good player through the years but Gayle could give him problems with his pace and movement.

Mitrovic will run all day and put himself about but away from home, Gayle’s the man to spark Newcastle. He might not see much of the ball but when he gets the chance to strike, he’ll score.

I do Premier League TV with Mark Bright and he’s very close to Steve Parrish at Crystal Palace. He told me that he couldn’t believe Pardew had allowed Gayle to go: he’s such a natural finisher.

Palace are crying out for goals so it was a strange one to let him go. But I’m delighted Palace did, because I think he can develop under Rafa into a player who scores plenty at Premier League level.

First things first for Newcastle. If they make it into a semi-final it’s going to be hugely exciting.